"A teenage girl reunited with her father last year after a decade in foster care is suing Los Angeles County for taking so long to bring them together. County supervisors had said in September that the reunion of Melinda Smith, now 17, and father Thomas Marion Smith was the result of a "groundbreaking effort," and congratulated county agencies for locating the father. But the lawsuit alleges that the Department of Children and Family Services failed to use "due diligence" to locate Thomas Smith. It claims the agency never notified Smith, who had continued making child support payments, that his daughter was in foster care and never gave him a chance to claim her." AP, FindLaw, Link to Article (last visited 7-17-06 NVS)